The Physical Stress Factor

This is part of a series of articles about The Stress Factor, from Instant Healing by Serge Kahili King.

Physical stress is a relatively simple phenomenon to describe. After engaging in physical effort for a long time the body begins to resist the activity more and more until exhaustion or accident forces it to stop.

I would point out, though, that the more enjoyable the effort seems to be, the longer you can continue it, because you are not resisting it as much. Low resistance means less tension, and less tension means less effect from the stress. If you love to play volleyball, you may be able to do it for hours and hours and end up pleasantly tired but exhilarated. If you hate to do housework or clean out the garage, however, you may end up exhausted and achy after a couple of hours.

Another kind of physical stress that produces tension occurs when you are poked or prodded with something sharp, hard, or excessively hot or cold. Although you don’t think it’s strange to be cut or bruised or burned by such contact, some people’s injuries remain for a long time, while others are able to heal very quickly, and still others can walk on fire or get punctured by nails without harm.

Having walked on extremely hot lava rocks barefoot without injury, and having healed broken bones, burns, and bruises of my own in under an hour many times, I can tell you that reducing tension as quickly as possible is a critical factor in the length of the healing process.

Physical stress can also come from reactions to the environment. Allergies are so common that many people take them for granted, and some people are highly sensitive to trace amounts of natural and man made chemicals and to electromagnetic radiation. The body tries to protect itself against such intrusions not only by internal chemical means, but also by creating a barrier of muscle tension (note that our internal organs and nerves are surrounded by muscle tissue). And then there is the stress caused by such things as hunger, thirst, and lack of movement. It isn’t very hard to see how physical stress can cause physical tension.